California chef offers cannabis infused gourmet dinners

Global Business

Andrea Drummer is a Cordon Bleu trained chef who has worked in some of the most respected restaurants and hotels across the country. But, in 2011, she stumbled on an ingredient that would permanently change her direction… Cannabis.

CGTN’s May Lee brought us this report.

Andrea has blazed a unique new trail. In 2012 she started Elevation VIP Cooperative, a medical marijuana culinary events company. She is just one of a growing number of high-end chefs who are taking cannabis laced edibles to a new, more sophisticated level. Demand is high, pun-intended. There’s a 4 to 5 month waiting list for Elevation VIP catered events, which cost anywhere from $250 to $500 per person.


Andrea Drummer’s cannabis infused delicacies


Right now in California, cannabis in any form can’t be purchased without a medical marijuana card, but come January of 2018, adult recreational use of cannabis will be legal, which means all related businesses will likely see a big boom.

VIDEO: This California-based chef prepares cannabis-infused gourmet meals

But legal experts warn of potential chaos when it comes to proper regulation under the new law. Attorney William Kroger, who specializes in marijuana cases, believes the law was haphazardly put together without proper preparation.

“They’re basically trying to build an airplane while it’s flying.”, says Kroger. “There’s so much going on already in the CBD world, THC world, in clubs, in cultivation and manufacturing that I don’t foresee a way they’re going to be able to regulate it here.”

But for cannabis entrepreneurs like Andrea Drummer, whose cook book comes out later this year, the future is infused with a lot of deliciously elevated opportunities.